TRUCKEE, Calif. (KOLO)– The California Highway Patrol is still trying to identify the woman who was allegedly driving a stolen Truckee Fire Protection District Ford Expedition when it crashed head on into another vehicle Monday, closing California 89.
Someone stolen the Ford Monday as the keys were in the vehicle in Truckee, the California Highway Patrol reported. The fire department used the on-board GPS to locate a vehicle and a CHP officer found it on California 89 near Sequoia Avenue around 11:30 a.m.
The CHP officer turned on his lights to pull it over, the driver took off but crashed head on into another vehicle about 28 seconds later after losing control on the ice, the CHP said.
Both drivers were taken to the hospital. The driver of the stolen vehicle suffered major injuries and the CHP got her fingerprints Wednesday in an effort to identify her, the CHP said. The driver of the other vehicle was treated and released.
The crash briefly shut down California 89.
Truckee Fire Protection District Chief Bill Seline said an insurance company has not looked at the vehicle yet, which was used for fire inspections, so he can’t see if it is a total loss, but it looks like it is.
Seline said the vehicle was parked at a fire station and it is routine to leave the keys in the vehicle. This is the first vehicle theft from the fire district in at least 20 years.
It is standard to leave keys in the vehicle cab when a vehicle is at the station but that may change, Seline said.